MENC Earns APEX 2003 Awards of Excellence

Two Certificates Earned in Communications Competition

RESTON, VA (PRWEB) July 12, 2003 -- MENC: The National Association for Music Education, the authoritative voice on music education issues with over 100,000 members worldwide, has been awarded the APEX 2003 Award of Excellence in the Public Relations and Information Video and Electronics Publications category for its work on the Why Music?

PSA series and in the Corporate Capability Brochure, Manual & Reports category for the MENC capability brochure.

APEX 2003--the 15th Annual Awards for Publication Excellence--is an international competition that recognizes outstanding publications from newsletters and magazines to annual reports, brochures and Web sites.

According to the APEX 2003 judges, The awards were based on excellence in graphic design, quality of editorial content and the success of the entry in conveying the message and achieving overall communications effectiveness."

Why Music? is a series of radio public service announcements produced twice annually by MENC to coincide with Music In Our Schools Month in March and with the traditional beginning of school in late August. The series features top country, pop, jazz, and classical artists talking about the value of music education.

The pop version is sent to more than 1000 adult contemporary stations; the country version is sent to 1000+ country stations. Both versions are also made available to 30 radio networks and are offered to National Public Radio stations via satellite feed.

MENC produces the series with funding provided by Gibson Guitar and Baldwin Piano. The Country Music Association, ASCAP, National Music Council, and Wolf Trap, America's National Park for the Performing Arts, have assisted in facilitating artist participation.

MENCs Association Overview, titled Why Music? Why Music!", was created to fill MENCs need for a professional corporate capabilities brochure that can be presented to potential fund-raising partners. The piece includes information on MENCs mission, goals, activities, and initiatives.

About the APEX Awards
The APEX Awards for Publication Excellence is an annual competition for writers, editors, publications staff and business and nonprofit communicators. It is sponsored by Communications Concept, Inc., publishers of business communication reports, including Writing That Works, a subscription monthly for professional communicators, and special reports on topics such as Writing for the Web.

In the fifteenth Apex Awards, awards were given in 105 communications categories, in 11 main categories, including: newsletters, magazines, and journals; magapapers and newspapers; annual
reports; brochures, manuals and reports; video and electronic publications; Web and intranet sites; campaigns, programs and plans; writing; design and illustration; and special publications.

About MENC
MENC, the worlds largest arts education organization, is the only association that addresses all aspects of music education. More than 100,000 members represent all levels of teaching from preschool to graduate school. Since 1907, MENC has worked to ensure that every student has access to a well-balanced, comprehensive, and high-quality program of music instruction taught by qualified teachers.

MENCs activities and resources have been largely responsible for the establishment of music education as a profession, for the promotion and guidance of music study as an integral part of the school curriculum, and for the development of the National Standards for Arts Education.
   
For more information, call MENC at 1-800-336-3768, or visit the Web site at www.menc.org.
         
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